{Scones & Clotted Cream}

Ever since I first had scones at tea a few years ago, they have been one of my favorite breakfast/brunch treats. With winter fast appraising I thought this would be a good time to go hunting for a yummy recipe to make scones. Well after finding one I thought would be good, I whipped them up for breakfast this past Monday for when my sweet friend Carly and I had breakfast. They turned out SO yummy! To my surprise, scones are about as easy to make as it gets! Heres the recipe I used:

Ingredients: 

~ 2 ups all purpose flour

~ 1/3 cup granulated sugar

~ 1 teaspoon baking powder

~ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

~ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen

~ 1/2 cup dried cranberries

~1/2 cup sour cream

~ 1 large egg

Directions:

-Preheat over to 400 degrees 

-Mix flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl

-Grate butter into flower mixture and mix (Mixture will resemble coarse meal)

-Stir in cranberries

-In small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.

-Using a fork, stir in cream mixture into flour mixture, until large dough clumps form

-Use hands to press dough into a ball 

-Place on a lightly floured surface, and pat into a 7-8 inch circle, 3/4 inches thick.

-Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar on top

-Cut into 8 triangles

-Place on sheet lined with parchment paper

-Bake aprox. 15-17 minutes, until golden brown

*****

Well, as many of you know scones are often served with Devonshire cream (also known as clotted cream). Unfortunately in order to make this the way it's made in Devonshire, England you pretty much need a cow (which i, at this point in time, don't have.) So i found a recipe for a substitute cream, which ended up being delicious, creamy, and just as good. Here is that recipe: 

Ingredients:

~ 4 oz. mascarpone

~ 1 cup heavy whipping cream

~ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

~ 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

~ Lemon zest (optional)

Directions:

- Place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat until mixture holds its shape and looks softly whipped.

Just a few tips for making the cream: First of all mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese, and should be available at any grocery store. I bought mine from the Italian market down the street from me (it costs about $2.50 there.) Second, do not try to make this with normal whipping cream, USE HEAVY! It won't turn out the same! :( And lastly, I added about 1/2 half a lemon's worth of zest, and I would strongly suggest using it!!!

Enjoy! :)

B